Not So Different
by SingingEms7
Summary: Mariela Vec lives a somewhat average life for a 16 year old greaser girl. She likes to hang out with her brother and his gang and read. But when she is assigned a chemistry partner, things begin to change...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own any of the Outsiders characters (Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda, Darry, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, Cherry, etc.) But most of the characters especially from the beginning are mine. Thanks, and please review to let me know if you like it or not! I will update asap! ;D**

Chapter 1:

I was walking home from the DX with Chrissi Daniels. The DX is a gas station that greasers like us like to hang out at. We were silent most of the way- Chrissi and I never really talked much, even if we were the only two girls in our gang. She was two years older than me. Eighteen years old may not be much older than sixteen, but Chrissi sure did act like it was. She popped a bubble of her gum loudly and we kept walking in silence. Chrissi preferred a stick of gum rather than a cigarette. The wind was blowing harder than usual, but it was October in Tulsa, Oklahoma after all. Chrissi's straight, long, bright blond hair was all getting in her face. My light brown straight hair was in my face too. My bangs, especially, were covering my eyes. I must've bumped her or something, because Chrissi soon said, "Watch it Mariela!" She said it with the same tone of voice she liked to use when talking to Socs.

"Sorry Chrissi!" I said, wiping the hair out of my eyes. We were soon at my house.

"Tell Bennie I say to take care and don't' get into trouble." Chrissi said to me as she began to walk away. She looked real pretty with her natural highlights in her hair. She wasn't wearing makeup, but she didn't have to. Chrissi always said that she would never wear makeup and become a fake. Chrissi Daniels was about as real as it got.

"Will do." I replied and opened the gate. I walked into my house, which wasn't really anything special. It was a simple, small house with chipped paint and a slightly cracked window out back. It was the kind of place you weren't exactly proud of, the kind you didn't stick around for too long. My brother Bennie was sitting on the couch watching TV when I came in. His wavy dirty blond hair was slicked back. His dark blue gorgeous eyes that I shared looked up at me.

"Hey, Mare. Where were you?" He asked quizzically, calling me by my nickname. Bennie wasn't angry, he just wanted to know.

"I headed over to the DX with Chrissi. She says take care." Bennie laughed goodheartedly and smiled. "That Chrissi." He mumbled under his breath. Chrissi and Bennie had a peculiar relationship. Chrissi was hard, sarcastic, and tough, yet pretty, charming, and witty. Bennie was kind, sort of shy, and caring, yet handsome, mysterious, and tough. They were both eighteen, but acted much older. They were pretty much opposites which is why they teased each other and got along so well. "Mom working late?" I asked, knowing the answer well before I asked the question. Our mom worked in a hospital and always worked late. "Yeah." That was all Bennie said. He sat back down on the couch, and I sat next to him. I didn't know what he was watching, but I didn't care. All I needed was something to focus on, to get my mind off of things. My last week of school had been rough. My chemistry class was all but enjoyable, thanks to my partner Johnny. Johnny Cade.

Johnny was a greaser like me, but he was different than the rest. He always seemed scared of me, and it kinda bugged me. I mean, I usually don't care about stuff like that, but this time it's different. He would look at me with his large dark eyes and say something real quiet, and I wouldn't hear. He wouldn't repeat himself at all. I pretty much had to do our whole experiment because Johnny and I just didn't communicate too well. I usually ended up doing most of my partner projects because of my incredibly meticulous manner and stubbornness, but not because my partner and I didn't communicate well. He just sat there most of class, his dark hair in his eyes, staring at our beaker.

It bugged me that he didn't want to talk to me. It was silent the whole way. Not Chrissi silent, but a different, more profound silence. It's hard to explain. But I wanted to talk to Johnny, maybe something was wrong and I just didn't know. So I just stared at the TV, just to be doing something. But it's hard to get your mind off of something so quick.

And hour or so went by, with me just staring mindlessly at the television screen. I checked the wall clock- 9:30. I decided to get to bed because I was tired and tomorrow was Saturday and who wants to be tired on your days off of school. I headed up the stairs, put on my pajamas, and went straight to bed.

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining through my curtains. I got dressed in my loose jeans, Bennie's old black t-shirt, and my pair of black sneakers. I didn't like to wear any fancy clothes like other greaser girls, so I mostly wore Bennie's hand-me-downs. Chrissi mostly did too. I headed downstairs for breakfast. Mom was gone, but that was no surprise. She was usually gone before I got up, even on Saturdays. Unless I got lucky, which was usually never. Bennie was still asleep which kinda surprised me. Bennie is an early bird and usually wakes up and makes breakfast on Saturdays. I was too lazy to do anything so I just sat down on the couch and picked up a book. I didn't even bother to look at the title; I just flipped open to a random page and read. After a paragraph I realized it was Charles Dickens' _A Christmas Carol_. I read on, even though I wasn't really in the mood for something so dark and spooky. My life was dark enough all on its own.

The back door opened and Jack Baner hopped in. Jack was a member of Bennie's gang. I guess I should say my gang, but I'm not really in it. I just say I am sometimes to impress people, and I guess it's the closest thing I have to a gang. Jack was nineteen years old, but still in high school. He was held back because he isn't too smart. He had light brown hair, a strong build, and was a little short for his age, but his muscles made up for it. His eyes were hazel and he was always lightening the mood. Jack couldn't stand to see anybody sad.

"Hey there Mare!" He said playfully, ruffling my hair. "Hey Jack." I said, putting down my book.

"Whatcha readin' Mare?" Jack asked. Not like he really cared, he never once read a book for fun.

"A Christmas Carol." I replied.

"Hate to tell you Mare, but you're about two months off." Jack said grinning. I rolled my eyes.

"I know Jack, I was just reading something I could find." I said to him.

"So where's Bennie?" Jack asked, looking around. "Asleep in bed." I answered. "Bennie? Asleep? At this time on a Saturday? Naw, that can't be right!" Jack said. "I know I can't believe it either." I responded. "He musta been doing something late last night- maybe with someone special?" Jack asked. He liked to suggest that we all went out on dates, when no one really did. "Naw, you know Bennie. Curled up on the couch watching TV until late." I said.

That was true. Bennie was very handsome, but his shyness hurt him. He hardly ever talked to any girls other than Chrissi, not even greaser girls. Too shy to get a good conversation going. Now Jack on the other hand…

"Hey Jack whatcha doin' here so early? Haven't you got more important places to be?" Bennie asked as he wearily walked down the stairs.

"Bennie!" Jack and I shouted in unison. "Easy ya'll, you see me every day!" Bennie said to us, prying us off of his white t-shirt.

"Hey ya'll!" Cal Covone said as he and his little brother Ray walked in. Calvin was another member of the gang. He was tall, lanky, had a large nose, and had dark hair and sideburns that he always put a lot of grease in. His skin was pretty pale compared to everyone else's, and he didn't look too good standing next to Jack and Bennie. He was seventeen. Ray was almost a miniature of Cal, except with slightly better looks and a slightly smaller nose. Ray was fifteen, making him the youngest of the gang. Cal said, "Had to come, I heard there was some powwow going or something."

"You're darned right there is!" Jack answered back. Ray walked over to me. We were good buddies. Even if Ray wasn't the best looking guy I ever saw, he was real nice. We understood each other real well because we were the youngest of the gang.

"Hey Mariela." Ray said to me. "Hey Ray." I said back. We stood there in silence while Cal said hey to Jack and Bennie. "Mare!" Cal said and walked over to me and gave me a hug. Cal was a hugger. "I knew you were at the powwow! I just knew!" Cal liked to use all the fancy words he learned like powwow. He really liked vocabulary class at school (that was pretty much the only class he liked at school).

"Well ain't this a sight!" Chrissi said as she strolled in superciliously. Our house was kinda the meeting place for the gang. "Hey guys!" She said to everyone. "Hey Chrissi!" Everyone shouted back. Chrissi was very proud and tall. She liked to show off, and she had the looks and talent to do so. She always popped loud bubbles of gum just to show off that she was different and liked gum.

"Where's King?" Cal asked Chrissi. King was Chrissi's older brother. He was twenty and the gang leader (although there really wasn't a leader in the gang). King's real name was Sam, but a guy like King shouldn't be called a boring name like Sam. King was always getting into something. Whether it was a fight, a party, or something else that was illegal, King was always there. He often got arrested, even if he didn't do anything (the cops just knew that King was bad and automatically associated him with the bad things that happened.) King was tall, strong, and had long dark brown straight hair that he greased. He didn't look much like Chrissi.

"Hell if I know! He was out late last night, and last I saw he was over at the drive-in causing trouble to some Soc gals. The little bum…" Chrissi said. She was probably the only person who could talk about King like that and not get slugged. "Oh I'll bet!" Bennie said with a laugh. "King is always getting into something like that!" Cal said loudly and everyone laughed. Well, everyone except Chrissi. Chrissi Daniels didn't laugh. She just smirked at jokes. She thought that if you laughed then you didn't look as tough. But everyone else still laughed. It was a bit odd how we found it funny for a guy to be messing around and getting into trouble all the time.

"Well, are we just gonna stand here? I'm hungry!" Jack bellowed. "We don't have enough food for all of you!" Bennie said back. "Matter of fact, we probably don't even have enough food for Jack alone!" That got a good laugh out of everybody. "Well then I gotta jump! My stomach needs food!" And with that, Jack ran out. Jack liked to make an entrance and then run.

"And I gotta head over to work. I'm gonna be late if I stay here any longer." Cal said hastily and ran out behind Jack. Cal had a job working at a local drug store on the weekends. So all that was left of the gang was Bennie, Chrissi, Ray, and me. "Well, anyone wanna take a walk? It's pretty nice out today, and I wouldn't wanna waste good weather like this. It ain't gonna be warm much longer." Chrissi said. Chrissi liked to take walks because they calmed her down. "Sure I'll head over with you." Ray said. "We'll join you after breakfast." Bennie said. "See ya there." Ray told us as he and Chrissi walked out. It had just gone from a full house to just Bennie and I in the course of a few minutes.

"Are pancakes ok for breakfast?" Bennie asked me. "Sure thing." I replied. I sat down on the couch and picked up _A Christmas Carol_ again. I read a few more paragraphs, when Bennie said, "The eggs are done!" I went into the kitchen and ate my pancakes. We both ate pretty quick so that we could meet Chrissi and Ray. "Done?" Bennie asked me once I had finished my pancakes. I nodded and put my dishes away. We both beat it out of there after our dishes were put away.

Bennie and I ran to catch up with them, but what we found was a gruesome sight. We could barely see Chrissi and Ray's outlines from down the block. There was a blue mustang pulled over next to them and one of the guys in it was talking to Chrissi. They must've been Socs. Socs are the rich kids in town. They like to jump us greasers just for fun. And they liked getting drunk before they jumped us which made them extra dangerous. Chrissi didn't like talking to Socs for too long and if one of them said the wrong thing… Bennie and I kept walking up the street but Chrissi and Ray were still far off.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next few movements were almost a blur. All of the sudden, Chrissi pulled out her switchblade abruptly and held it up to one of the Soc's noses. The Soc clearly didn't like that and he hopped out of his mustang along with his four friends. Chrissi fought back well, but Ray was caught off guard. Two Socs threw him to the ground and thrust their switchblade into his side. Ray yelped in pain and was soon unconscious from smacking the ground so hard. "Ray!" I screamed and ran as fast as I could to go help him. Bennie was running too.

I came up to Ray and picked up his head gently. Blood was splattered all over his left side, and it was getting on my hands too. I didn't really know what to do because there was nothing I could use to stop the bleeding other than my hand which would only infect the wound. But some other greasers had noticed the little fight and started to run over and help us. There were three of them, one who looked like he had come straight out of a movie he was so gorgeous, one who had tan skin and dark greasy hair, and one who was younger, good-looking, and looked like he could probably run pretty fast. The movie star guy with blond hair ran over and helped Chrissi and Bennie fight. The younger one stood at a distance, not wanting to fight but being ready if we needed him.

The one with the tan skin ran over and helped me. He grabbed Ray. He took out his switch and cut off a small part of the bottom of his shirt. I soon realized who this greaser was. It was Johnny. "Johnny…" I almost whispered.

"Yeah." He said back to me almost as quiet. Johnny took the piece of his shirt and put it on Ray's wound. It soaked up a lot of blood real quickly, and it was helping. "Is he your friend?" Johnny asked quietly as he tilted his head towards Ray. "Yeah, his name is Ray." I replied. Johnny then gave Ray back to me because the movie star guy had really helped Chrissi and Bennie and the Socs ran off. Johnny ran off with the younger guy.

The movie star guy looked at Chrissi after the Socs ran and said, "Hi I'm Sodapop Curtis, but you can just call me Soda."

"Hey Soda, I'm Chrissi Daniels. Thanks for helping us fight." Chrissi responded.

Soda gasped. "You're Chrissi Daniels?" That was a greaser's usual reaction to meeting the greaser girl who had punched a Soc so hard she broke his nose last year. It made Chrissi pretty famous among us greasers.

"Yep, that's me." Chrissi said, trying hard not to smile too big.

"Wow! Did you really punch that Soc last year?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, but it was no big deal. He was asking for it." Chrissi said. She liked to pretend that she wasn't too proud of her accomplishment, but she was.

"Wow." Soda was left speechless.

"I'm Bennie." Bennie said to Sodapop.

"Pleased to meet you Bennie. Man, you two can fight real good." Soda said to Chrissi and Bennie.

"Thank you." Chrissi and Bennie responded in unison.

"And who might you be?" Soda turned to look at me. My face flushed red. I wasn't too good at meeting new people, let alone gorgeous movie star type people.

"I'm Mariela." I said quietly. Ray was still in my lap unconscious and bleeding, but nobody seemed to notice. Maybe it was because Soda was getting all the attention.

"Funny, Johnnycake was talking about a girl named Mariela. Do you know Johnny?" Soda asked me. Johnny had talked about me? I could feel all eyes on me and it didn't make me feel too good.

"Yeah, we're partners for a project at school." I said real calm. I didn't want Chrissi or Bennie all suspicious.

"Oh yeah, that's what he was talking about!" Soda said.

"About the project?" I questioned. Did Johnny hate me or something for not letting him do the work?

"Yep. He said that he was gonna get a real good grade because he had a good partner named Mariela. We all started asking him questions about you and he turned bright red and kept his mouth shut and left the room. Every time we tried to bring you back up, he wouldn't say nothing. Nice to finally meet you in person though, we've been wondering about you." Bennie cocked an eyebrow at me and Chrissi smirked.

"Oh ok." I said quietly and looked at Ray. Still, nobody had noticed the fact that he was bleeding and unconscious.

"Is that you're buddy?" Soda asked me. He finally noticed Ray.

"Yeah some Socs got him real good. Johnny helped me with him though." I said back. Now Chrissi and Bennie both looked concerned. Chrissi rushed over to me.

"Ray? Ray? Is he unconscious?" She asked me while shaking Ray.

"Yes and shaking him won't help." I replied and Chrissi stopped immediately. Ray didn't look too good.

"Well, I'm sorry to see that your friend here is hurt, but I gotta get back. Nice to meet ya'll!" Soda said to us.

"Bye Soda!" We all said back to him. And with that, Sodapop Curtis left Bennie, Chrissi, and I with Ray. He was getting blood all over my blue jeans, but it didn't really matter. I practically live in jeans, so I have more pairs. But I don't have another Ray for replacement.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! It's time for Chapter 3! YAY! Lol, ok so I just wanted to say a quick thank you to my friends berserkpucca2876 and DonJuana19 for being such awesome fans! And also, if you are reading my story and enjoy it, then please review and favorite, because I would like to know that people are reading! Thanks**

**-SingingEms7**

Chapter 3

"Ray?" I asked as Ray Covone slowly lifted his head off of the old pillow in our family room. Well, it wasn't much of a room- just an old couch, a chair, and a small television.

"Mariela?" Ray asked tiredly. "Woah, what happened? Last I saw, some Socs were comin' my way and then… I don't know what happened!" Our whole gang was at me and Bennie's house. We were all staring at Ray. Thankfully he was coming around now.

"You got knocked out Ray! You were bleeding all over the place." Bennie said.

"You scared us something awful little brother! I was so petrified!" Cal said. He had left work the minute he heard that Ray was hurt.

"Yeah Ray, it really gave us a shock." Chrissi said.

"But on the bright side, that new scar you're gonna have will look real tuff!" Jack said gleefully. Jack needed to find joy in every situation. Ray laughed and then reached for his side.

"Ouch! Man, that damn Soc got me good!" Ray said wincing in pain. I bet that really hurt him. Stupid Socs.

"Yeah, but at least you're alright. When I got jumped by some Socs, I ended up in a hospital bed for weeks. Those Socs!" King yelled that last bit pretty loudly. He went on to call the Socs some things that I shouldn't repeat. King had a very wicked vocabulary when it came to Socs.

We had taken Ray to the hospital and luckily he was fine. The doc there just said for him to not play any sports or fight or anything like that and gave us some bandages for his cut. He told us that if he was still unconscious by tonight to take him back.

"Mariela I thought I saw someone while I was knocked out. You were sitting with me while he put something on my cut and then I blacked out. Who was that?" Ray asked me.

"Oh. Well that was Johnny. He's a greaser and he and some of his gang was passing by and they came and helped us. Johnny took a part of his shirt and put it over your side to help stop the bleeding." I responded.

"How do you know this Johnny?" Jack asked me. Of course, Jack who liked to question every mention of a boy.

"We're lab partners at school." I answered. I hoped he wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Ah, it all starts as lab partners Mare. And then a romance starts to spark…" Jack said tauntingly. I threw a pillow at him and everyone laughed. Not Chrissi, but as I said she never laughs.

"Aw Mare I was just kidding you! I'm sure this Johnny fella is nothing more than another greaser." Jack concluded. Thank God he didn't ask any more questions. I don't know why, but I just didn't feel like talking about Johnny right then.

"So who else was in Johnny's gang? Anyone I would know?" King asked.

"Yeah, we met this guy Soda Curtis and there was some other boy but he ran away before we got the chance to say anything to him." Chrissi said.

"Ah, Sodapop. I've heard of him. He's a dropout and he works at the DX with his friend Steve." King said. I was really surprised that King knew about Soda, but I guess I shouldn't have been. King knows much more than I think he does.

"Who told you about him?" Bennie asked.

" Hmmm. Some bum from a rodeo. But he might've been drunk when he was telling me about the Soda guy. I don't really remember too good cause it was a while ago." King replied.

Everyone stayed for a few more hours. But eventually, at what seemed to be around ten o'clock, the gang started to leave. Ray was pretty tired from all the trauma, so he and Cal were the first to leave. Plus, their parents would've probably liked to know about Ray. Then King beat it out of there once he knew what the time was. He probably had something planned to do but nobody asked. We learned to just let King leave. Jack was next because he said his mom was probably wondering about him. Jack's mother was kind and had a nice smile. She looked a lot like Jack, which made sense. Then Chrissi left after a while cause she could tell Bennie was exhausted and let him get his rest.

"See ya Bennie! See ya Mare!" She said as she strolled out. Bennie and I both waved to her as she walked into the darkness. Normally, a greaser doesn't walk all by their lonesome, but Chrissi would be fine. She knew how to handle trouble from Socs real good.

Bennie and I heard the sound of our mom's Ford in the driveway. She was finally home!

"Mom!" Bennie and I ran out the front door to greet her. We may seem childish, but we like to take advantage of every moment we have with our mother.

"Bennie! Mariela!" She said to us as she hugged us tightly. She had dirty blond hair, and was about five foot six. Her eyes were also deep blue, and she loved to smile. She was oblivious to the fact that it was pretty late at night. Our mom just enjoyed seeing us whenever she could.

"I apologize for the late nights- Someone needed me to fill in for them while they visited their grandmother!" Mom said.

"It's ok Mom, we're just glad you're back!" I said cheerfully.

"Yeah, especially after what the Socs did to Ray today." Bennie added sadly.

"What happened to Ray?" Mom asked.

"He got jumped real bad. He was out for a while on our couch. There's some blood on it now- not too much, but he needed a place to rest on and our house was the closest place." I said.

"Oh that's fine. I'm just glad he's alright now!" Mom said. She was generally very understanding when it came to things like this.

"Well alright, you two best be gettin' to bed now. Sleep is good for ya!" Mom said to us.

"Alright mom." We said back to her.

Bennie and I went upstairs to our rooms and got our pajamas on and went to bed. As I laid in my bed, I wondered how Ray was doing. Those Socs really got him this time. I also wondered why Johnny stopped and helped us. I wouldn't think that someone as shy as Johnny would do something like that by his own choice. But maybe Soda had told him to do it. But if he did then why didn't the other guy help us? I guess I misjudged Johnny. Maybe he isn't as shy and quiet as I thought he was. Or maybe he felt that he owed me from all the work from our project. I didn't know really.


	4. Chapter 4

**I have been trying to make the chapters longer because 2 and 3 were pretty short. This one is decently long, and Chapter 5 will probably be pretty long. Thanks to all my fans! And DonJuana19, Darry is coming in Chapter 6! XD Fave and Review please! Thanks so much! ;D**

Chapter 4

It was Monday, and Monday meant school. And school meant Chemistry class. And Chemistry class meant Johnny Cade. I sighed and walked out my front door into the Ford and sat down. My mind was still buzzing about why Johnny had helped me with Ray. Thankfully, Ray was alright now. Yeah, he had a scar (a real tuff one as Jack says), but other than that he was alright. Except that every time Ray heard the word Soc, his eyes widened. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who'd realized that, but that's probably because Ray and I are such good buddies.

"You alright, Mare?" Bennie asked me, interrupting my thoughts. He could tell if I was thinking about something very easily. We communicated very well as siblings. Kinda like Chrissi and Bennie did, but less opposite. Bennie and I are real similar.

"Yeah I'm fine Bennie. Just a little shook up from this weekend." I responded drowsily. I hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"Yeah, me too. If I ever see those Socs again, hold me back because I'm not sure whether I could stop myself from hurting them too bad." Bennie said. The whole gang felt that way. Chrissi went on a whole lot of walks yesterday, probably scoping out Socs to fight. She was real irate about that whole thing. Everyone in the gang was.

"We'd better get goin', don't wanna be late for school." Bennie said and I nodded. We drove to school pretty quick, and then we both left for our classes. In the hallway, I saw that kid from when Johnny and Soda helped us fight, the one who looked younger and had reddish-brown hair. I think he saw me too, because his face turned bright red as he walked away. But maybe that wasn't me.

I walked to my locker and got my books. I suddenly realized that Chemistry was the first class of the day, and I groaned out loud. _Maybe Johnny won't be here. _I thought. _Maybe he will be sick._ I was wrong because the moment I walked into Chemistry class I saw Johnny. He didn't see me, but he was sitting at our lab table. I sat down quietly next to him and fiddled with my shoe just to be doing something.

"Hi Mariela." Johnny said quietly.

"Oh," I was stunned. "Um, hi Johnny." I added after too long of a pause. Johnny never said hi to me, so that was pretty surprising. "About the other day- I just wanna say thanks." I said.

"It's no trouble, I was just helping out a fellow greaser. We get all the rough breaks, ya know." He said back to me. I think that was the longest conversation we'd ever had. I wonder what got him talking.

"Yeah I know." I said. Then our conversation turned back into silence. The class began, and our teacher told us to begin our project. This was our last day in class to work on it, so whatever we didn't finish would have to be done at home.

"Mariela?" Johnny asked a little louder than his usual voice.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Could, could I maybe help with the project today?" Johnny looked up at me with his large dark eyes. He kinda looked like a little lost puppy sitting there looking up at me like that.

I widened my eyes. "Of course you can Johnny." _Was that what he had been asking before? If he could help with the project? _My heart sank. I realized that I was being a real jerk before. I hoped he hadn't been upset with me.

We worked real well together in class. I tried to be as nice to Johnny as possible after realizing how rude I had been to him. He really tried hard and even if he wasn't too smart he always tried. I only had to correct him a few times. We worked almost in silence, but maybe that was the way it had to be done.

As class ended, Johnny stopped and looked down at his old sneakers. "Mariela, I just wanna thank you. I think I'm gonna get a good grade. Thanks."

"You're welcome." I replied and got my books and turned to go.

"Wait Mariela!" Johnny said.

"Yeah?"

"Do we need to finish our project at our house?" I froze and realized that we were very far behind in our project. Someone needed to finish it.

"I guess so. Do you want me to do it? We only have a bit left." I said. It would be simple to finish the project 'cause we only had a few more steps to do. I really didn't mind having to do it.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do the rest together…" His quiet voice trailed off and he looked at the floor.

"Oh… Well we only have the rest of the week to do it. And where would we go?" It's not that I didn't want him to help, but wouldn't that be a little weird? It would only make Jack start to ask questions.

"You're right, you can do it." Johnny mumbled and left. I felt a pang of guilt but there wasn't much to do about it. I didn't even know where Johnny lived.

So I went to the rest of my classes, still feeling guilty. Man, I hated that. I got an answer wrong in History and nearly fell down a flight of stairs. Well, I am pretty clumsy so the stairs wasn't anything new, but I never answer school questions wrong. I'm a real good student. I get straight A's and work real hard to get them. Bennie says that I have the mind of a scholar. I had to look that word up the first time he said that 'cause I didn't know what that meant. It just meant I was smart, which I already knew.

I ran into that kid again (really ran into- we both smacked into each other in the hallway). My books were sprawled across the floor and I could feel the bruise already forming on my head. That would look real tuff- not.

"Sorry." The guy mumbled.

"It's okay." I said. "Hey, um, I think I saw you on Sunday. Do you know Sodapop Curtis or Johnny Cade?" I asked him. Might as well have, I was itching to know who this guy was.

"Yeah Soda's my brother and Johnny's my buddy." He answered.

"Oh. And who are you?" I asked.

He hesitated slightly. "Ponyboy. Ponyboy Curtis." He said and frowned.

"Wow…" I started but he cut me off.

"Sorry, but I don't wanna hear it. I know my name's weird. You don't have to tell me." He said irritably.

"I didn't… I wasn't…"

"Please!" He pleaded roughly.

"That's not what I meant! I meant to say that Ponyboy is a real nice name. Real original. Wish I had a name like that." I said.

"Oh, sorry." He said quietly. No wonder he and Johnny were buddies, they both seemed pretty quiet. "And thanks, you really think so?"

"Yeah, my name ain't nearly like that."

"But ain't your name Mariela? I never heard a name like that. Now _that's_ a tuff name." That was surprising. He already knew who I was without me telling him.

"Thanks. But, how do you know my name?"

He blushed sheepishly and picked up the rest of his books real slow. "I, well, uh, Sodapop told me your name."

"Oh okay." I replied. "Well, I've got class so… Bye Ponyboy. See ya 'round." I said.

"Bye Mariela." He said back. Ponyboy seemed real nice. Ponyboy Curtis- now that wasn't a name you heard every day!

I had Algebra next period so I had to beat it out of there. But I knew that I would see Ponyboy around some more. Come to think of it, that wasn't the first day I had seen him. His locker was across the hall from mine. He was a Freshman who got to skip a year of school. Or at least, that's what I'd heard.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's Chapter 5! I was on vacation, so I couldn't post until now! Sorry! Chapter 6 may take a while :( I'm busy with schoolwork and such, plus it's gonna be a long chapter. Well, we will just have to see how soon I post! Thanks for reading everyone, it's getting to the juicy part kinda soon XD Thanks again, fave and review ;) Oh, and haha enigma is my favorite word XD**

Chapter 5

The rest of school was pretty normal. Except that I answered another question wrong , this time in Algebra. Well, that sorta made sense because I'm not too good with numbers. I like letters and words much more. I'm an English kinda person, just like Cal is a vocabulary kinda person. Everyone is different.

"Hey Mare." Bennie said to me as we met at our Ford. He lit a cigarette. I didn't take one though, I don't like to smoke too much.

"Mare, guess what? I learned a new word today! Enigma!" Cal said, beaming.

"En…. what?"

"Enigma! It means like a mystery or somethin' puzzlin'! Ain't that great?" Cal always got very excited when he learned a new word. He told me a new one almost everyday.

"Yeah Cal, that's really somethin'." I responded monotone.

"Hey ya'll. Where's Jack and Ray?" Chrissi said when she saw us. She popped a bubble of gum.

"Ray's got tutoring and Jack's in detention again." Cal said and he lit a cigarette. Chrissi smirked.

"What's he in for this time?" She asked. She was talking about Jack 'cause Jack gets detention just about every week.

"Throwing pencils or something like that." Cal said.

"Hey ya'll, I don't know about you, but I say we head on home. School ain't really a happenin' place in case ya'll don't know." Bennie said.

"Sounds like a great idea!" Cal said happily.

So we all got into the Ford and we went to my house. Bennie drove with Chrissi in the passenger seat and Cal sat next to me in the back. Chrissi always got shotgun, and I wasn't gonna be the one to try and change that. Jack tried that once and he never tried it again. I never saw what happened in the moment, but Jack came home with a black eye. Don't ever mess with Chrissi unless you're Bennie. He's probably the only one who can get away with that.

When we got to the house, I hopped out and went upstairs to my room to work. As I said, I like to get good grades, and I work hard to get 'em. Cal and Chrissi bummed around our place for a couple of hours, arm wrestling and playing a few games of poker. Bennie was upstairs most of the time, but he played some games with them just for the fun of it.

Chrissi and Cal left, though, just around dinner time. I finished up all my homework, so I went downstairs. Ray walked in through the back door.

"Hey Mare!" He said to me.

"Hey Ray. Tutoring again?" Ray was a real nice kid, but he just wasn't too bright. He had street smarts, not book smarts. He was constantly in tutoring sessions.

He sighed. "Yeah, but I don't even know why I still need it! The tutoring, I mean. I'm gettin' better! It ain't fair. It just ain't fair."

"I know." I said with a sigh. "Hey, why don't I just tutor you? I mean, I know my stuff." I suggested.

"Sounds mighty fine to me! But I'd have to ask my tutor if it would be alright." Ray said.

"It's a deal then!" I said. I couldn't believe that I'd never thought of that before. Bennie walked in.

"What's a deal? Are you two sellin' drugs or somethin'?" Bennie asked nervously. Ray and me got a real kick outta that one. We both nearly fell to the floor laughing. "What's so funny?" Bennie asked, puzzled.

"We ain't sellin' drugs!" Ray exclaimed. He was holding his side. I hoped that laughing didn't hurt him too much.

"I'm gonna tutor Ray. _That's _what the deal was!" I said through my laughing fit. Bennie rolled his eyes, but he smiled too. We kept up the laughing for a while longer. Ray and me didn't laugh much at most jokes, but when we did we laughed real hard.

"Alright you two, enough of your antics. Ray, you should be headin' home. I bet your mother wants you home. You still ain't in that great of shape little buddy." Bennie said. Ray went in for a punch but Bennie caught hold of his arm. Bennie was bigger than Ray. In fact, everyone in the gang was bigger than Ray except me.

"Alright, alright I'm goin'." Ray mumbled. "See ya Mare!" He shouted from down the steps.

"See ya!"

"What do you want for dinner Mariela? I was thinkin' mom's chicken. Haven't had that in a while." Bennie said. "Sounds mighty fine to me." I replied. I sat down on the couch and picked up my latest book, _Gone with the Wind_. It was pretty good; I liked romantic books like that. I have to say, I am a sucker for a good romantic story. I know it sounds silly, me being a greaser and tough and tuff and all, but it's the truth.

Bennie's cooking made my stomach growl real loud. Man, I was hungry. _I wonder if Johnny is hungry. _I thought to myself_. Wait… WHAT?_ I stood up suddenly from the couch which still had blood on it from Ray. _Why am I thinking about Johnny? Why does Johnny matter to me? Oh, it's because I feel guilty about not lettin' him do the project with me. That's why._ I sat back down. But I was still a little shaky. Shoot, I didn't even know Johnny. So why would he cross my mind? Man, that was just weird.

Bennie hollered for me to come and get my dinner. We were having chicken with mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. Bennie's food was usually pretty good. Not quite as good as Mom's, but pretty close. Mom has all these special recipes she likes to make for us. But she never really has time for cooking anymore. She's always at work. Things get pretty lonely without her. I like to blame that on my father. I really don't like to talk about him, but he pretty much just left us about four years ago. The day it happened, he was drunk like always, and Mom was sick of it. She kicked him out. I wouldn't blame her- all the man ever did was drink and then fight with someone, whoever he could find. Sometimes it was even Bennie, Mom, or me. I still have a scar on my cheek from when Dad got so mad he took out a switch and cut me with it. Bennie had tried to protect me, but he just ended up getting a scar too.

Dad lost his job too before he left and that pretty much finished him off. Mom was just sick of it and that's why she kicked him out. We haven't seen him since. He owes us lots of money for all the liquor he bought, but he never ended up paying us back. Maybe that was a good thing, because I don't know if I could stand to see him ever again after all that he did to us.

He was the reason Mom had to work. He was the reason Bennie had to learn how to cook and take care of me when he was still in high school (I don't think I need to be taken care of, but Bennie still has to take care of me). He was the reason Bennie might not be able to go to college, even Community College. I know I shouldn't, but I do hate him. He ruined everything. We're dirt poor, and we can't do a thing about it. I hate my father for that.

"Mariela?" Bennie asked. He wasn't calling me by my nickname. He only called me Mariela when things were serious. I looked up at him. "Mariela are you thinking about Dad?" He asked quietly. I swear that boy can read my mind sometimes.

I stared back down at my plate. "Yeah. It's hard not to sometimes. I mean, he ruined our family. He changed our lives forever. I hate him. I just hate him." I said, slamming my fist against the table. Talking about Dad got me all revved up. Shoot, anything about Dad got me revved up.

"I know what Dad did was bad. Hell, it was way worse than bad. But don't hate him, Mariela. Please don't hate him. He's your father." Bennie said. I couldn't believe that Bennie didn't hate him too.

"_What?_ How can you say that? Dad is a _monster_, doesn't matter he's our father! He's _terrible_! He's _horrible_! I have every right to hate him!" I shouted. My eyes were probably getting real dark blue. They do that when I get real beefed about something.

"But part of him's still good. Remember when he would take us fishin'? Man, you used to love fishin' Mariela. Remember when you caught that big ol' bass when you were little? You were so proud. Dad was so proud. You just can't hate your own father Mare." I stared at Bennie and then burst out crying. "Aw, it's alright Mare, I didn't mean to make you cry." Bennie walked around the table and gave me a big hug. My crying slowed a bit and I said. "It's not you. I shouldn't hate Dad, I know. It's just… hard. It's always been harder for us. It ain't fair sometimes. People shouldn't get so much when we get so little." I hiccupped and looked up at Bennie. His expression softened. "I know Mare. I know." He said. We both sat down on the couch together and I stopped crying.

When you're a greaser like me, you just can't cry so much. I cry, everyone does on occasion. But I only cry sometimes, like when I'm real upset. Not all the time, it just wouldn't work. Greasers are made tough, and crying is not tough (or tuff). If I cried every time something went wrong, I wouldn't have any tears left. No, I learned to block things out. I'm still human, but I'm just a very tough human most of the time. Bennie too.

Chrissi and King never cry though. Ever. They stopped a long time ago. They just don't really know how to anymore. I don't know how, but they just kinda stopped. Ray, Cal, and Jack cry, but only sometimes like me and Bennie. You just have to cool it when your life is tough like ours is. I mean, Ray and Cal are the only ones with both parents still left. Jack only has a mother and Chrissi and King's parents left them a long time ago. They pretty much discipline themselves which makes a whole lot of sense if you know what I mean.

I sat with Bennie for a while. We just sat together. I don't know how long, but it seemed pretty long to me. We didn't even turn the TV on or anything. Silence and sitting just works when you're all heated. It's always worked for me. My mind was wandering far off. I thought of my day. Of Johnny, Ponyboy, the project. _They're greasers too. They get it. They'd understand if you talked to them about your problems, 'cause they probably have some of the same ones. Maybe I will talk to them later. Maybe I won't. It's not like I have other friends to talk to... _That was true. I wasn't real social, so I didn't have too many friends outside of the gang.

...

I fell asleep on that couch that night_._


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, so this chapter is really long. There is just so much that I needed to put in to this chapter! Tell me what you think! Sorry I didn't update sooner, I was pretty busy! Darry is here! Along with the rest of the gang :) Chapter 7 will not be this long, I can say that right now, so it will come relatively soon. Haha and I watched the Outsiders auditions on the internet... Ralph Maccio is just so little and cute ^^ and the director guy is like "Rob Lowe is so pretty. Handsome doesn't even describe him." XD It was great! (and so true!) Alrighty then, enjoy! Review please!**

Chapter 6

I decided something when I woke up the next morning for school. I decided that I was going to let Johnny help me finish the project. I was going to ask him where he lived, go to his house tonight, and work on the project there with him. Now that was a lot for me to be saying. I hardly even knew Johnny, and I was just going to ask him where he lived and then even worse go to his house all by my lonesome? It was crazy, but guilt had taken over me. My conscience is real tricky with me. I just can't hurt someone and then move on. So that was my plan. Easier said than done.

When I got to school and went to my locker, Ponyboy smiled and waved to me. Ponyboy, the boy I had just met yesterday, was already waving to me. Of course I smiled and waved back out of politeness, but that was just kinda funny. A funny start to my day.

I went to Chemistry and took notes and was my regular smart self. The bell rang, and I was so nervous my hands were shaking. It was just hard to talk to someone who I didn't really know. I guess that's why I was so nervous, 'cause I don't see why else.

"Johnny?" I said at the end of class.

He turned to look at me. "Yeah?"

"I was just wonderin'…" I stopped in the middle of my sentence and froze. _Why am I so nervous? Shoot Mariela, it's just Johnny. Ask him the damn question already! _Johnny was nice though and didn't push me to talk more. I did anyways to save my pride and conscience. "Wonderin' where you lived. I think we should work on the project together."

Johnny's dark eyes kinda lightened up a little. "So you wanna work together?" He said smiling a little too. I noticed that he had a scar on his cheek, just like I did.

"Well, yeah, I mean it's both of our project." I said.

"Ok, well where do you live? I'll just give you directions." And Johnny gave me the directions to his house. We would meet after school today. After I left, I got that good feeling in my stomach. It's that feeling you get when you do something good. I don't know why having Johnny help with the project made me feel so nice and good, but it really did. I was pretty happy the rest of the day.

I passed Ponyboy in the hallway and he said, "Hi Mariela." I said hi back. First he smiled and waved, now he was talking to me? It was just real funny.

I met with Ray after school in the library for tutoring. His tutor was okay with me tutoring Ray as long as he could sit in for a day and see that I was a good tutor. Perfect, another set of eyes watching everything I did.

"It's ok Mare, he's just makin' sure I'm actually learnin'. You'll be fine." Ray assured me.

"I just don't like bein' in front of people I don't know. I just know I'm gonna mess up!"

"Mess up? You're tutorin' me, there ain't much to mess up."

"I guess…" But I still wasn't sure.

We sat at a table together. The librarian kept giving us dirty looks. She always did that to greasers. It really wasn't our fault though; we can't help our social class. I can't help that my father was always drunk, Jack can't help it that his father died in a car crash, Chrissi and King can't help that their parents just left. It wasn't our fault things happened the way they did.

Ray's tutor walked in and sat down next to us. He looked around thirty and had glasses and light brown hair. I think he was a counselor or something. He smiled when he saw Ray and me.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Steffen. And you must be Mariela, it's nice to meet you." The man said. He had a real high voice for a man and I had to stifle a laugh. "Hi, nice to meet you too." I said back. I was surprisingly not that quiet and shy like I thought I would be.

"Okay Ray, well let's start with English." I said. He got out his papers and I helped him diagram a sentence. It wasn't so bad really, Mr. Steffen just watched me. Thank God he didn't talk again, or I may have died laughing. His voice was like a little chipmunk or something. I mean c'mon, if someone talked like that, it would be funny.

"Well Mariela, I have one thing to say to you." Mr. Steffen said. I don't know how, but I think he managed to make his voice lower. "Yeah?" I squeaked. I was real nervous not just for me, but for Ray. This meant he might not have to be stuck in school as long. "You are an excellent tutor, congratulations. You may tutor Ray instead of me." Mr. Steffen left and Ray and I cheered and slapped each other on the back. The librarian told us to shut it or we had to leave, so we got pretty quiet. I kinda hate that librarian. I didn't even bother to learn what her name was. She's just the stupid librarian to me.

"Let's beat it outta here." Ray whispered kinda loud on purpose. We did just that. We walked home together and went back to my house.

"Hey ya'll we're back!" I said as I walked in. The whole gang was there, except King. They acknowledged us back, and Ray sat down. He patted the seat next to him. "C'mon Mare, there's an open seat right here." I really would've taken it, but I knew I had to go over to Johnny's place. "I'm real sorry Ray, but I gotta run. I need to head over to Johnny Cade's place, we gotta finish our project." I said. I really didn't expect everyone to get silent and look at me, but that's what they all did. "What?" I asked.

"Um, Mare? You're ditchin' us?" Cal questioned. "No, no! I would never! Ya'll know that!" I defended. "Yeah Mare, it all seems pretty fishy to me. Why didn't you finish the project at school?" Bennie asked me. I couldn't believe he didn't trust me. I mean, I believed Cal and everyone else, but Bennie's my own brother. How could he not trust me? "Bennie, it's a real long story. We just got behind, so I need to head over and finish it. I'll be back ya'll, don't worry. It'll only be an hour or so. I promise." I said. They were still quiet. "Fine Mare. But if you ain't back by dinner, there's gonna be trouble!" Bennie said. At least he was letting me go. "Alright, sounds fair to me." I responded. "See ya'll later!" I said as I walked out the door. The response was kinda a bunch of weak goodbyes. They would be fine once I was home, I just knew it.

It turns out Johnny's place ain't really that far from mine. It only took me about ten minutes to walk there. His house kinda looked like mine, actually. But once I checked the address to make sure it was his, I froze up. _Why are ya nervous Mare? It's just a house. Just knock on the door._ I plodded up to the door slowly and stopped myself. I just stood there for about a minute or so. I really hope he didn't have windows and just saw me standing there. After what seemed like forever, I reached my hand out and knocked.

The door opened surprisingly quick. I was greeted by Ponyboy. _Ponyboy? What the hell is Ponyboy doin' at Johnny's house? _Oh wait, they're buddies. We stared at each other for a few seconds and then talked at the same time. "Ponyboy?" "Mariela?" We both blushed.

"Er, what are you doin' here?" He asked. "I'm here to see Johnny. We have an important project to finish up. Is he here?" I asked quietly. "Yeah, yeah he's here. I'll go get him." Ponyboy answered and went to get him. I saw Sodapop in the kitchen with another guy. The first thought that crossed my mind about the guy was: He's a Curtis. He had to be. He was handsome just like the other two, and real muscular, kinda like the other two, but this guy had some serious muscle. He looked older than Ponyboy and Soda. Maybe nineteen? Twenty?

"Mariela? What are you doin' here?" Sodapop noticed me at the front door. The other guy walked over with him.

"How do you know this gal Soda?" He asked.

"Oh, she's a real nice gal, Darry. She and some of her gang were out and me, Pony, and Johnnycake were walkin' past and we saw 'em gettin' jumped. Johnny and I ran over and helped 'em out. We met each other afterwards. She was with Chrissi Daniels. She's Mariela, the gal Johnny was talkin' bout the other day. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. Wait… you hang with Chrissi Daniels? "

"Well, yeah sometimes. She's in my gang." I answered simply.

"Are, are you gonna punch any of us?" He stuttered. I laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I just hang with Chrissi, I don't act like her." I said.

"Oh, ok." He paused as he and Soda just looked at me. There were other guys there too. One who was drinking beer and looked fairly old, and one with a DX shirt on and lots of complicated swirls in his greasy hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mariela. I'm Darry Curtis, Sodapop and Ponyboy's older brother. Nice to meet you." He said and stuck out his hand. I shook it. Man, that guy was built.

Ponyboy returned with Johnny. "Mariela?" Johnny asked and looked real shocked. His eyebrows were raised so you couldn't see them under his long, greasy bangs. "Yeah, I'm here to work on our project. Remember, I talked to you at school today?" I said to him. He looked confused for a minute, then embarrassed. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't have time to clean…" Johnny's quiet voice trailed off. All eyes were on us.

"Well, we should probably get to workin' on the project." I said and started to get my things out. "Wait, Mariela, you haven't met the rest of the gang yet!" Soda said suddenly. I stopped. "This here's Steve, my best buddy. Steve, this is Mariela." Soda said, gesturing to the guy in the DX shirt. "Hi Steve." I said. "Howdy Mariela." He said back. He was eating chocolate cake with the older guy.

"And this here's Two-Bit. Well, that's just what we call him, his real name's Keith." Soda laughed tauntingly. Two-Bit stood up and went in for a punch. Soda ducked, but Two-Bit tackled him onto the carpet floor. "Enough horseplay you two, we have a guest here." Darry said strictly. If I were them, I would've obeyed Darry. They didn't though, and Darry reached in and picked Soda up off the ground. "C'mon little buddy." He said. Two-Bit rolled his eyes. "Dar, we're old enough to manage ourselves." He said.

Then Two-Bit noticed me and winked and whistled at me. "Well ,well, well, who do we have here? Ya'll didn't tell me you found a pretty broad while you was gone!" Johnny's face turned real red. I felt kinda bad for him, he didn't look like he was too proud of what was going on. But I didn't blame him, I knew how people could be sometimes. "No, I'm just here 'cause of school. I'm Johnny's lab partner, Mariela." I replied. "Well, you sure are pretty. Johnnycake here is a lucky fella, let me tell you!" Two-Bit said in a flirtatious way. Now if I was Chrissi Daniels, then Two-Bit would've lost a few teeth or something, but I'm not Chrissi. To tell the truth, I felt kinda flattered. I know that sounds silly, considering that Two-Bit was probably a little drunk and probably did that to every other gal he met, but his comments made me fell kinda… special or something. I don't know.

"Shut up Two-Bit." Johnny said loudly. "Yeah, Two-Bit, why don't you cool it. She's a guest here." Darry added. "Whatever, Superman." Two-Bit mumbled. I guess Darry didn't like that comment, because he picked Two-Bit up right off the ground. "Don't call me that again Two-Bit, or I'll skin you." Darry said. Two-Bit just nodded and sauntered off.

"Why don't we get workin' on the project, Johnny?" I asked. "Sounds like a great idea. Let's go upstairs. Ponyboy, can we use your room? We just need somewhere quiet to work. We're just gonna take some notes and write some stuff down." Johnny said. He looked relieved.

"Sure Johnny. Let me just grab some stuff first." Ponyboy said and led us to his room. We walked into the plain room, there wasn't really much in it other than a bed and dresser and desk. Ponyboy grabbed some of his things from the desk, obviously for school, and I stopped him.

"Ponyboy!" I almost yelled. Johnny and Ponyboy both looked at me, startled.

"You alright Mariela?" Ponyboy asked me. He and Johnny were giving me weird looks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mighty fine actually. Sorry, didn't mean to yell, but I just wanted to stop you 'cause you're reading _A Christmas Carol_. That's one of my favorites, but I really can't pick a favorite I guess. I read a whole lot of books." I said. Ponyboy and Johnny stopped looking so funny.

"Oh, alright. Yeah, it's a pretty good book. Kinda hard to understand, though. " He said to me. "And wait… you like to read too? I thought I was just about the only one in this neighborhood!" Ponyboy sounded real excited.

"I love to read! I thought I was alone too!" I was getting real excited too.

"Don't you just love how when you read, you kinda get taken to a different place? Ain't that the best? And there ain't greasers or Socs or nothin' like that, and… I don't know I just love it!" Ponyboy said.

"Yeah, I love that feeling! I get so into the story sometimes, I almost always start crying when somethin' sad happens. And sometimes I feel like I really know the characters in the book, like I could sit and talk to them sometime!"

"That's how I feel!" Ponyboy exclaimed. Johnny kinda stood there 'cause he clearly didn't share the love of reading that me and Ponyboy did. Poor Johnny. It seemed like every time something happened, Johnny eventually got left out. Well, I still wasn't gonna stop talking to Ponyboy, he and me were on a roll. We continued sharing thoughts about our fondness of reading for a few more minutes, until (I daresay rudely, but I hate to say that about Darry) we were interrupted by Darry.

"Ponyboy, you alright up here? We can hear you and Mariela yelling from downstairs!" Darry said. Ponyboy and I were facing each other, but we both turned away and blushed.

"I'm sorry, Darry. We were just talking. I think I'll leave now." Ponyboy said real quiet. Then he left like he said.

"Well, why don't we really get started on the project?" I suggested and we took out our supplies. "Sorry about leaving you out of the conversation. I didn't mean to cut you off like that." I said to Johnny. I did feel kinda bad. Shoot, I always felt kinda bad, even when I just did something little. That's why I can never hang with Chrissi or King too long 'cause they go around breaking the rules (or even the law sometimes) and I just can't live with myself when I do something mean or wrong. It's hard being a greaser sometimes when I can't hardly do anything bad.

"It's alright." He said back in his quiet voice. I wondered if his voice was always quiet. Maybe his parents were quiet, and they passed it onto him. I also wondered where his parents were. I mean, there were just a bunch of boys here, no adults (I don't really count Darry) were there. Maybe he was like me and only had one parent. That was something to talk about later in case we got all quiet, which we probably would.

"Ok, so we just need to finish writing the conclusion on paper, and then we're done!" I exclaimed. I was real happy to be done with the project.

We finished the lab write-up within about twenty minutes. Then it was silence. I took a chance and decided to ask about Johnny's parents. Can't help that I'm so inquisitive. "Johnny, are your parents at work or something?" I asked. His face kinda hardened and he turned away a little. "Maybe, I don't know. I never really know." He said. That was an interesting response.

"Wait, you don't know where your parents are? But you're at your house, shouldn't they be home soon?" I asked. He froze and didn't say anything for a while. He sat there for about a minute or so without saying anything. "Johnny?" I asked again. "This ain't my house Mariela. It's Pony, Soda, and Darry's. I just wanted us to go here for a quiet place to work 'cause my house is always noisy." He said. "But then where are Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry's parents? Shouldn't they be home by now?" I questioned. "They're…" He started and then stopped. I noticed that he did that a whole lot. "They're dead." He whispered. I suddenly wished I hadn't asked. "Oh, I'm sorry Johnny, I didn't think… I didn't know…" I said and trailed off. "That's alright Mariela." Johnny said. But he still didn't tell me about _his_ parents.

"So why don't you know where your parents are? Aren't they wonderin' where you are?" I asked. I was being real nosy but I didn't really realize it at the moment. "Naw, they ain't wonderin' where I am. I'm over here a lot." He said, but I could tell that he was keeping something from me. I just didn't know what. "Oh, ok. But then why don't you just head over to your house for the project? There ain't any boys over there." I said. I knew I was pushing it, talking about his parents when I don't really think he wanted to.

This time Johnny was quiet for a real long time. Longer than before. He sat there, not facing me, and didn't say anything at all. I had pushed too far. But why? Maybe 'cause his parents were mean and drunk like my dad… I prayed his parents weren't like that. I would never talk to anyone about that who I had just recently met. But I knew from the silence that there was clearly something wrong with his parents. I _had_ pushed too far.

"Johnny, it's ok if you don't wanna talk about your parents." I said. I would never wanna talk about my dad to anyone more than the gang. He still didn't say anything, but I didn't really expect him to.

"Mariela?" Johnny finally said to me. Thank God, I was afraid he had gone mute or something awful like that. "Yeah Johnny?" I said back. "Thanks." "For what?" "For everything. No other gal ever lets me help with anything or even talks to me. All the teachers think I'm dumb. No one outside of the gang really accounts me for anything. But you do. You give me a chance when nobody else will. Thanks." Wow. I didn't think Johnny was that deep. Maybe I misjudged Johnny yet again. I needed to stop judging people so quick!

"It's ok Johnny, I know what you're going through. My mom is the only parent I still live with. I'm so poor I have to wear my brother's old clothes. My brother has to practically raise me. I try to be nice but I really don't have many friends. All the girls think I'm too shy or whatever, and the guys outside of my gang ignore me. It's just hard. We get all the rough breaks, no matter what is going on." For some reason, I felt like I could tell this all to Johnny. "Really? I didn't think you were like that… you know like a greaser like me?" So maybe I wasn't the only one misjudging people. "Yeah, well that's how I am. I like it sometimes, but hate it sometimes too." I said. "Yeah. I agree." Johnny said.

"Well, alright, I better be headin' home Johnny. My brother is pretty protective." I said. "Yeah, I understand. That's how Darry is with Ponyboy." Johnny said and we walked out the door together. There was someone new in the living room. He had white-blond hair and looked kinda rough and tough and tuff too. "Dally…" I heard Johnny whisper.

"Hey Johnny, next time you're gonna bring a broad home, let me approve of her first!" He said. This time Johnny didn't get all red like I expected. He ignored the comment that the guy (who I assumed was Dally) made. "This is Mariela Dally." I walked forward slowly. Dally was eying me kinda funny, and I didn't like it too much. "You in a gang?" He said to me. I nodded. "You ever heard of Chrissi Daniels?" I asked. Dally's expression changed. "No, you ain't in her gang? You look too… nice." He said, shaking his head. "It's true. Ask her yourself if you need to." I responded. "Wow, I hear she's real tough and also tuff. I'd love to meet her sometime." Dally said. "I'll see what I can do." I said like seeing Chrissi was a real big deal. "You dig ok Mariela. I approve." He said.

"Thanks Dally. I'd better be gettin' home. See ya'll." I said and walked to the door. "I'll come walk you home Mariela." Johnny said and came with me. I saw Darry give Pony a look in the kitchen. "Me too." Pony said and ran up to us. The door closed behind us.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N- I'm soooo soooo sooo sorry to everyone! I know this is like two months late, but I was having computer problems and so I lost this chapter and got a virus and couldn't go back on the computer for a while :( So this chapter isn't too long, I posted it asap to make up for my lost time... I promise that won't happen again and I'll continue on this story! Thanks and feel free to review! :D**

Chapter 7

So there I was, walking home with Ponyboy and Johnny. We were all quiet at first, but what was there to say? I mean, I tried talking to Johnny about family, and that didn't end too good.

After what seemed like an hour of silence, Ponyboy finally spoke up.

"So Mariela, how's your, um, your family?" he asked me. I saw Johnny give him a look from behind my shoulder. It was a small one, but just big enough so I noticed it.

"Fine. How's yours?" I spat harshly. That was an uncouth little Chrissi comment right there.

"Oh," That was all that he said. I guess I shouldn't have reacted like that, I mean, he was only trying to help.

"I'm sorry Ponyboy. It's just that… My family life just ain't that great, that's all. I'm sorry for snappin' back at you." I said quietly.

"It's alright," he said back. "My family life ain't that nice either. Oh, and you can just call me Pony if you want."

"Sure Ponyb- er, Pony." I said back and we laughed a little. Then we were silent again. I probably should've expected it, but it was still funny to me. These guys were quieter than I thought they'd be, considering they were best friends. Or, at least, that's what I figured. They both seemed alike and Ponyboy had mention Johnny being his buddy or something like that. That's why it was so funny for them to be quiet. They were best friends and they weren't saying anything to each other. It was just funny.

Johnny decided to break the silence this time. "Uh, Mariela, do you have a boyfriend?" he asked quietly. Ponyboy and I both stopped dead in our tracks and looked at him. He blushed and looked at the ground. "Sorry, just askin'…"

"Um, well, no I don't have a boyfriend. Don't have much time for one." I responded. I was lying. I probably had plenty of time for a boyfriend because I didn't have too many friends to hang with other than the gang, who I didn't even really hang around by choice most of the time. I could easily fit in time for a guy.

"Yeah, me too. I'm real busy." Ponyboy said. I think he was lying too.

Johnny just nodded like he agreed with us. He was so quiet, that's why I was so shocked he asked that question just outta the blue. I didn't expect that from him.

We were getting real close to my house. It was a quick trip from my house to Ponyboy's. I don't know why, but all of the sudden I felt like I wanted to be able to talk to these guys again. It was like they understood what I was going through like nobody else did. I decided to tell them I wanted to meet again even though I really didn't know how to say it.

"Uh, guys?" I started shyly.

"Yeah," They both said back.

"I was thinkin' that maybe we could, you know, meet up again sometime." I said.

"You wanna meet up with _us_ again?" Pony sounded incredulous.

"Well, yeah, but I mean if you don't want to…"

"No, we want to." Johnny and Pony said at the same time. I smiled. Maybe I wasn't that bad of a person to hang with.

"Alright, but where are we gonna meet up? My house ain't the best place, Pony, yours is… Well I ain't tryin' to be mean, but that's probably not the best place to go." I said.

"Yeah I don't think we should go to my house either. Maybe the park?" he suggested.

"There might be Socs there." Johnny commented quietly. I didn't think of that one.

"Good point. Hmm… Where else is there to go? I can't think of anywhere else." I admitted.

"Me neither," Ponyboy said. I really did wanna meet up with them again, but I just didn't really take the time to think it through. Maybe it just wasn't gonna happen. We were already at my house and I could see Bennie through the window.

"Well, it was real nice meetin' you Pony, and the rest of your gang. I hope we can meet up again soon. Maybe we can talk about it at our lockers at school." I said.

"Sounds alright to me. Bye, then." He said.

"Bye." I said back quietly.

"Bye." Johnny said before I was almost up the steps to my house. I waved to them, and they both bolted pretty quick when Bennie appeared in the doorway. I would've too. Bennie may be gentle and kind, but he doesn't always look like it.

"Mariela, I've been waitin' for you." Bennie said seriously. I cringed a little. Was I late? I easily could've been, I hadn't looked at the clock at the Curtis's…

He led me in silence to the kitchen table. The only other person at our house was Chrissi, and she was giving me a look that was unreadable. I couldn't tell whether she was mad, holding back laughter, or just staring at me. But then again, that's pretty much the look she always has on her face.

"Mariela, I don't know what to say," he started. Man, I didn't either Bennie. I looked at the clock- it was six thirty. We usually have dinner at six which meant that I was late. I was never EVER late, no matter what! Bennie was gonna kill me, I just knew it. I winced just at the thought of it. When Bennie's mad, you either gotta watch it or hide under a pillow to avoid meeting his eyes. His eyes can tell you much more than his words sometimes.

I decided that I needed to defend myself, since it wasn't _really_ my fault 'cause the Curtis's didn't have a clock for me to look at!

"Bennie, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be late! It'll never happen again, I promise! I really do! It's just that… Well, Johnny and me had to work on the project, but then Ponyboy was there and I was confused, and then Darry was all ripped and he shook my hand, and then Ponyboy and me were talkin' about books, and then Soda was introducin' me to their gang, and then Two-Bit was flirtin' with me, and then Dally wanted to meet Chrissi, and then…." I said, my words rushing outta my mouth like a waterfall.

And then Bennie did something I was not expecting. He laughed. And Chrissi smirked.

"Mare, it's ok, I ain't mad at you! I'm sorry for scarin' you like that." he said, walking over to me. At first I was a little angry at him for scaring me like that, but then I got over it.

"And next time you go on a date you don't have to give us all the little details. Got it?" Chrissi said, ruining my happiness just a little bit.

"It wasn't a date. And fine." I responded sharply, on purpose. Chrissi just rolled her eyes at me like I knew she would. I think that Dallas guy is gonna like her a whole lot. He seems like the kinda guy who goes for gals like that. I'd have to introduce them.


	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize that this wasn't updated immediately after Chapter 7, but I had a ton of schoolwork to do :( Our teacher made us write a whole entire magazine about a year (mine was 1984) and we had to write like 30 something stories in the project. Talk about stressful! So yeah, I know I shouldn't need excuses, but I think that's a pretty good one! Well, fave and review if you like what you read! And a quick but heartfelt thankyou to all of my readers ;)**

Chapter 8:

Chrissi smirked when I told her about Dallas. I shouldn't have been so surprised, she does that all the time. It annoys me sometimes when I'm trying to tell her something and she just smirks. But this time the smirk was a little different. I could see that it was more of a tiny smile than a smirk. She was excited to meet Dally- I just knew it! I knew she would be. They seemed to act almost… the same. Not like me and Bennie do because we're brother and sister, but the same like how Johnny and Ponyboy act because they're best friends. I guess I'd just have to wait and see what would happen when they would meet.

"Well, are you gonna introduce me to him or somethin'? 'Cause you know I hate waitin'." she said to me like she was the queen and I was her servant. In fact, that was kinda the way it was. She would ask me to do something and I would just do it. No questions or objections. I needed to stop letting her take advantage of me like that.

"Yeah, sure thing, I'll get you two together," I said without realizing how that sounded. She raised her eyebrows and stepped closer to me. I was real scared of her, especially when she did things like that to me.

"What'd you say?" she asked me menacingly.

"I… just… God Chrissi, you know what I meant!" I stuttered and the fear could be heard in my voice. She backed off and rolled her eyes at me.

"Just be careful with your words next time. Someone could use them against you, you know." The one thing I really abhorred about Chrissi was that she was always trying to correct me and give me advice. She never seemed to be able to mind her own business and that bothered me real bad sometimes. That's why Bennie can get along with Chrissi so well, because he can handle almost anybody. He's real amiable and friendly by nature, so he has no trouble at all. Unlike me, who has to work on my patience and kindness sometimes.

Chrissi strode away and just left our house. That's another thing about Chrissi: she likes to just do whatever she wants sometimes. She likes to act like she's the only person in the whole world, but that ain't the case.

I rolled my eyes at her disappearing figure. Oh yeah, I needed to get her to meet this Dallas guy. He would show her. He would put her in her place. I had confidence in him. But the only problem was how was I supposed to get them together? I didn't even really know Dallas, so how would I get him to agree to meet with one of my friends? _Maybe I could ask Johnny or Ponyboy. Or even Sodapop, he seems friendly enough._

At that moment, however, I just needed to eat. I gobbled up my dinner real fast. By the time I finished, it was already seven o'clock. I, surprisingly enough, went up to my room and fell right asleep without even changing out of my clothes.

I woke up the next morning with an ache in my back. I guess I shouldn't have slept in my clothes like that... I walked down the stairs drowsily and found Bennie. He was making me pancakes.

"Woah Mare, you know you kinda look…" he stated. "Are you gonna go to school lookin' like that?"

I looked down at myself. I didn't look so tuff- my clothes were wrinkly, my hair was tangley and all over the place, and my socks looked gross. My cheeks flushed. "No, I ain't goin' to school like this. I guess I fell asleep real quick and didn't have time to change clothes, so this is what I wore to bed." Bennie still didn't look so convinced. I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm gonna change after breakfast!" I reassured him. He smiled and gave me my pancakes.

"So let me get this straight," Bennie said as we were eating. "You and that John kid ain't datin'?" I practically spit out my food. When he didn't react, I gaped at him. He couldn't be serious. Johnny and I dating? It just wasn't imaginable. I mean, sure Johnny's nice and all, but I ain't so sure I liked him like _that_. Or at least I thought I didn't. But then again, I'd never felt that way about anybody, so how would I have known?

"Good Lord! I don't like Johnny like that!" I yelled, trying more to convince myself than Bennie. He chuckled.

"Okay, okay," he said still laughing. I gave him another stare. "I'm serious!" he defended. I laughed in return.

"I know you are. It's just… I don't even really know Johnny, so it's hard to imagine us together. Well, like that anyways." I said. Bennie nodded.

We finished our pancakes and I changed out of my old clothes. I put on a new pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with my jean jacket. Then I brushed my hair and smoothed it out. I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned. Something just didn't seem right about the way I looked. Everyone always told me I could be prettier if I wore makeup or did my hair up all fancy. But I just didn't ever care to make the effort. I looked at my eyes. _They could be so much prettier if you just put on a little eye makeup!_ A voice inside of me said. _Just a little- you don't wanna overdo it. I'm sure there's some in your mother's cabinet. Just borrow a little. Nobody will even notice! You'll be fine! Since when did looking good ever hurt anybody?_

The voice inside of me took over. I sneaked down the hallway to my mother's bathroom. It was pretty dirty looking, with grimy old green tiles and a beat up sink. I reached into the cabinet and looked around. Golly, there sure was a lot to choose from! After searching for a few minutes, I picked out some mascara. That was all I was gonna wear because, as the voice said, I didn't wanna overdo it. I opened the bottle and found a brush with sticky black stuff on the handle. I hadn't ever put on any makeup before, so I just had to go with it. I dabbed the stuff onto my eyelashes, poking myself in the eye a few times. Once I finished, I noticed how much longer they looked and how much darker they were.

Oh yes. This was exactly how I'd wanted to look. I just looked so much prettier! It's amazing what a touch of makeup can do to a girl! I couldn't believe that Chrissi never wanted to put this stuff on. She would look so pretty!

I happily walked back down the steps and strolled into the car Bennie was waiting in. I opened the door and got comfortable in my seat. Bennie was looking me over, and it made me a little nervous.

"You sure know how to clean up good, Mare!" he joked and I stuck my tongue out at him. But he didn't make any specific comment about my eyes, so I think I was okay.

We drove to school in silence. I kept blinking my eyes just 'cause it felt so great to have such pretty eyelashes! After probably my hundredth blink, Bennie looked at me.

"You got somethin' in your eye Mare? 'Cause you're blinkin' up a storm." he asked me. I blushed, giving myself away before I even had the chance to retaliate.

"Oh, uh, nope. There's nothin' in my eye, but thanks for carin' about me." I said nervously. He still looked suspicious.

Thankfully, we arrived at school before he could get another chance to find out anything more. I grabbed my bag and ran to my locker without saying another word. When I got there, I saw Ponyboy. He came up to me after waving for the second day in a row. What a funny kid.

"Hi Mariela!" he said brightly.

"Hi Pony!" I said back. He looked at me, right at my eyes.

"You look… real pretty today…" he said slowly as he examined my eyes further. I smiled and blushed just a bit. But I was actually real glad he noticed my appearance. It felt good to have someone say something like that to me.

"Thanks! You really think so?"

"Yeah… There's something different about the way you look. I like it." He didn't take his eyes off mine at all. It was kinda weird, but I liked that he thought I looked better. I smiled.

"Oh yeah, Ponyboy, do you think you could do somethin' for me?" I asked.

"Sure thing! Whadya need?"

"It's about your friend Dallas-"

"Trust me, you don't wanna get with that guy! He ain't nothin' but trouble!" he yelled, interrupting my sentence. I think he thought I liked Dallas, which was most definitely not the case. But what was so bad about Dallas? Then again, people usually had the same reaction about Chrissi…

"It's not me, it's my friend Chrissi. I think they should meet each other. Dallas said somethin' 'bout gettin' together with her." I responded.

"Oh. Well then, I will see what I can do. But if you ever wanna get him to meet with your friend, don't call him Dallas. He prefers Dally." I laughed, but Ponyboy gave me a serious look.

"I'll call him Dally if he'll get together with Chrissi."

"I wouldn't count on it, but hey, it could happen."

"But Chrissi and Dally have to get together. I just know they'd get along real well."

"Yeah… Dally's the kinda guy who doesn't get along with anyone except himself. Good luck."

"But that's just it! Chrissi's the exact same! She's sassy, she cusses people out, she ain't afraid to be herself 'cause if anyone tries to defy her they end up with some bruises… Okay, so she ain't exactly charming, but that's why she needs to get with Dally. They just seem so similar!" Ponyboy thought for a second. He looked back up at me.

"I think we've found our perfect matches," he said with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey ya'll! So here's Chapter 9 for ya! I'm gonna be on Spring Break for the next week, so I won't be able to update (or maybe even write) until I get back :( I'm trying to update asap, but my life gets busy sometimes! So yeah! Enjoy! And if you're reading my story, please review. They mean soooo sooo much to me! Plus, they make my story look really good to new readers XD So please review! :D**

Chapter 9

I left Ponyboy for class but I knew we would have to meet later to plan. There was something inside of me that just knew that Chrissi and Dally were so similar and would be great together. They both seemed so selfish, crude, and altogether impossible. So pretty much, they'd either be totally compatible or end up hating each other. We'd just have to see.

After I said goodbye to Pony I headed to Chemistry. I could feel Ponyboy's eyes watching me as I walked away. It was a little funny.

When I walked into the Chemistry classroom, the teacher assigned us new seats. I wasn't sitting anywhere near Johnny anymore. It kinda disappointed me, not sitting next to Johnny, because it was like I just met a new person and then they're taken away. He didn't look too happy either, but then again I hadn't really seen him smile too often. I wondered what made him so sad and upset all the time.

Clearly when I think about a person I look at them, because Mrs. Petra, our Chemistry teacher, was quick to point out the fact that I was staring at a boy in her class.

"Mariela, I know Johnny's quite the looker, but that doesn't mean you can stare at him in my classroom. This environment is designed for learning, not flirting." This caused everyone, especially the Socs in class, to erupt with laughter. I tried real hard to be unaffected from her comment, but I could feel my face get hotter. Why couldn't she have just ignored the fact that I was staring? I was a good student in her class! Because I was a greaser gal, that's why.

Mrs. Petra pretty much hated greasers, much like that stupid librarian lady. It just got old after a while. Sure, Cal and Chrissi didn't mind one bit and Jack found it pretty funny. But to us that actually cared about school, the fact that teachers punished us because we were greasers was real frustrating.

For the rest of my class, I kept my head down straight at my notes. I made sure I didn't answer any of Mrs. Petra's questions, even if they were the easy ones. But no matter how hard I tried to hide, I could feel Johnny's eyes on me throughout the rest of class. _Oh shit, _I thought_. Way to go Mare. Meet a new friend and then scare him away._

"Mariela," Johnny said it so quietly I hardly even heard. I braced myself for the worst. A couple of dumbass Socs eyed me as they walked out the classroom.

"Yeah," I replied almost as quietly so it didn't look so strange. I knew Mrs. Petra was looking at us, so I walked out of the room real slow and casual.

"I'm… I'm sorry." Johnny said and looked down at his shoes. At first, I thought he was kidding or something, but then I saw the look on his face. Did he really think that it was his fault I was staring at him?

"Johnny, you know this ain't your fault, right?" When he didn't answer, I got a little scared. "Right?" He shrugged and kicked his feet a little.

"Well, it's just that I got you into trouble. Shouldn't I be apologizin'?"

"If you actually did somethin' wrong, then I would want an apology. But you didn't do anything. _I _was the one starin' at _you_."

He still didn't look so convinced. I didn't know what else to say. He started to walk away, but I grabbed his shoulder and turned him back to face me. I looked straight into his eyes.

"Now you listen here, Johnny Cade. You didn't do anything wrong. I got into trouble all on my own. Understand?" He nodded.

"It's just…" he started.

"It's just what?"

"Well, Dally always says that girls are bossy and picky and need an apology straight away when anything goes wrong. He would know, he's had a girlfriend or two." So that's why Johnny was being so apologetic. Stupid Dallas was being an ass!

"You gotta know that that ain't true for every girl. Every gal is different!"

"So then you're not bossy and picky and demanding like Dally's other gals are? You're different?"

"I guess I am!" I said with a little laugh.

"Oh, and Mariela?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

He blushed and looked back at his shoes again.

"You… you look real pretty today." I smiled at this comment.

"Thanks. I'll see you around, I guess."

"Definitely." And then he walked away.

…

"I did not!"

"Yeah, you did! I saw you!"

At this point, Ray was so mad that he nearly pummeled Cal. But Bennie stopped him before any real damage was done. Not that Ray could do too much- he was so little!

That's how most of their arguments ended up. Cal would start some discussion about something stupid on purpose because he just knew that Ray would get all mad and revved up. Ray would, as Cal always knew, get all angry and end up trying to hurt Cal in some way (although he would never be able to- he's too small). Then Bennie'd have to step in and stop them. And this happened more than you'd expect it to.

Bennie and I never fought like that. We both just didn't like to fight. Chrissi and King didn't like to fight with each other either, but I think they were each just scared of the other, so they didn't risk it. Plus, it'd hurt their pride and enormous ego if they would lose. That was just the problem- they both think they're bigshots and so much better than us, but then they're too afraid to prove themselves wrong.

I think that that's why I wanted Chrissi to meet Dallas so bad. I wanted someone to be able to show her and get inside her head like nobody else could. No, I wasn't being mean, but it was just real annoying to know that she was always the best. It's hard to explain.

Chrissi was rolling her eyes at Cal and Ray's fight. That was Chrissi's role- rolling her eyes or complaining about fights. Unless they're with Socs. Then she liked to join in and beat someone up to prove that she was the best.

Jack would just sit on the side and watch, occasionally adding comments if needed. Surprisingly enough, Jack enjoyed a good fight. He was pretty upbeat and happy, but he couldn't resist a good fight.

Not that we ever fought real often. Mostly just small fights with Ray and Cal. None of us really liked to fight because most of our parents had fought a lot, except Ray and Cal's. So we were usually pretty calm.

Ray walked over to me and crossed his arms over his chest. His face formed a scowl and he stared straight ahead. I had to laugh at this. It was just so funny! Ray didn't appreciate this, though, and he looked hurt.

"Sorry Ray, but the look on your face… it was priceless!" I said and started bursting out in laughter. Ray still didn't laugh at all, though.

"You know Mare, you're eyes look real dark today," Ray said suspiciously.

"Really? That's funny…" I tried to play it cool but I couldn't stop the red color from getting to my cheeks.

"Mare…" Bennie started. The last thing I needed was for him to get all suspicious.

"Alright, alright! I'm wearin' makeup!" I shouted and everyone in the gang gaped at me. "Just a little..." I added like it mattered and hung my head low.

Chrissi smirked at me and said, "I honestly can't believe it. Mariela's turned into a whore right before our very eyes!"

"I've turned into a _what_?" I say and whip my head back around to look at her.

"I mean, honestly, the only types of girls that wear makeup are complete whores. It's just a fact, Mare,"

Now my face is red from anger. Who does she think she is, calling me something so bad? _That's it, she's gonna get it now!_

I walk on over to Chrissi and give her the meanest look I can muster. She glares right back at me and I try not to let the intimidation show on my face.

"You did not just call me a whore!" I say right into her face.

She laughs her little haughty laugh back at me.

"Oh, but I did. Whattaya gonna do about it, Mare?"

She has no idea what she's got coming. No, I wasn't gonna step in. Dallas Winston sure was. _Oh yeah, she's gonna be sorry now!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry, I know this is a short chapter :/ But the next one will be long, I promise! Oh, and please please PLEASE review! Even if you've already reviewed, I'd like to know if you're still reading or not! Thanks so much!**

Chapter 10

"Are you sure this's a good idea, Mariela?" Ponyboy asked as he and I walked to his house.

"I already told you, I'm sure!" I said, exasperated. I knew that Chrissi had to meet Dally- easy as that!

"Alright, but if you regret this decision, then don't blame me."

We got to Ponyboy's house, and I could see all the tuff guys I'd seen before. There was Darry, the strong one, Soda, the handsome one, Steve, the one with nice hair, Two-Bit, the flirting one, Johnny, the small and quiet one, and last, but not least, Dally, the Chrissi-like one. Everyone was staring at me through the window, but I tried to act natural. I don't think it worked real well.

Johnny looked alarmed when I walked through the door with Pony. "What are you doin' here?" he asked both quiet and nervous.

"I'm here to get Dally," I replied a bit too casually. And just like that, the whole room went silent. And Dally was staring at me. I blushed a bit, but tried to keep it under control.

"Why would any girl pretty and smart as you _ever_ wanna get near Dally?" Two-Bit asked. I think he was still kinda trying to flirt with me. And it still wasn't working. How old was that guy anway?

I rolled my eyes and said, "I ain't comin' to get Dally for myself. I'm here to get him so I can introduce him to someone." There were some questionable looks thrown my way.

"Who in their right mind would wanna meet Dally?" Steve asked. Dally wasn't too happy with this little comment.

"Why you little bastard! It's an honor for anybody to get to meet me. You, of all people, should know, you little shit!" Dally yelled back in response. He looked right at me when he said this, even though he was talking to Steve. I knew he was trying to see if I winced or anything at his cussing. I didn't. I knew better. Lots of other greasers did this too. It was almost their way of proving if a girl was "worthy" or not. I was. But I wasn't real sure if I even wanted Dallas to think I was worthy…

"You ain't foolin' me. I'm right fine with cussin'. I ain't scared of words," I warned.

"Oh yeah? Well then you can go ahead and f-" And Two-Bit went on to say some real unnecessary cuss words just to keep proving. Wow, he sure had quite the vocabulary! I was pretty sure he was the gang's jokester. Plus, I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he spoke. Yep, he was drunk for sure.

Dallas watched me warily all through Two-Bit's rant. I didn't flinch, and I made a point to look him right in the eye whenever I could. His eyes were almost ice-looking blue. And although he tried to hide it, they sure gave away a whole lot about what he was feeling. I could tell that he was real impressed by me, even though I knew he wouldn't say so aloud.

"So," he started after Two-Bit finished with a bow, "you've got a name?" I was real sure I'd already introduced myself, but I did again anyway. "My name's Mariela. Mariela Vec," I said, trying to sound proud of my name. Dally nodded and didn't say anything for a bit. He was just staring at me with the whole rest of the gang.

"Yep, she's a keeper," Steve said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. _What the hell?_ I thought. _I'm a keeper now?_

"I'm a _what_?" I asked, incredulous.

Steve rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world (which it wasn't!). "It means you're cool with us. You're tuff enough to hang with us," he said. Tuff enough to hang with them?

"You know, you should consider yourself lucky. Most gals who come here don't even make it past the doorstep!" Two-Bit retorted, making everyone else laugh. I smiled, proud of myself. I had been approved.

"Okay, but I have somethin' to ask ya'll now," I said, finally able to get to my point.

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow at me. "You tryin' to use us or somethin', kid?" he asked.

"No, no! Not at all! I was just thinkin' you'd like to meet someone, that's all." Now everyone was interested.

"What kinda someone?" Johnny asked, surprising me. He hadn't spoke up yet. I thought maybe he was zoning out or something, but I guess not.

I must've been startled looking, because Two-Bit called me out. "Hey Mare, we know Johnny's quite the looker, but that don't mean you can just stop and stare at him without talking to us!" he yelled loudly. My face got real red right away. I could hear Mrs. Petra's voice ringing through my head. She'd said almost the same exact thing yesterday. _"Mariela, I know Johnny's quite the looker, but that doesn't mean you can stare at him in my classroom."_

"Mare, you okay? You look like you wanna kill somebody…" Soda said, genuinely concerned. I blinked myself out of my reverie.

"Yeah, I'm cool. Just got a little… I'm fine, really," I said. But I couldn't shake that feeling of anger off. Soda nodded, unconvinced, but dropping the subject. Thank God!

"So who's this person you want us to meet?" Darry asked.

"Well, as I said before, I was kinda thinkin' more about Dally meetin' her, but ya'll can too if you'd like. Her name's Chrissi Daniels, the one I told ya bout last time I was over here. I'm sure you know who she is," I said.

"I get to meet Chrissi Daniels?" Dally asked like a five year old who was getting a lollipop.

"Sure thing! Although, I haven't really ran this by her yet, but I'm sure she'll be cool with it." Yeah, maybe I should've actually talked to Chrissi before deciding she wanted to meet Dallas… But, then again, she'd obviously say no, so it'd be better if he just came. Right?

"Well then, let's go! Where to?" Dally asked, grabbing my arm and dragging me to the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I ain't goin' anywhere by myself with you!" I said. That wasn't the right thing to say.

Dally's face hardened. "You don't trust me?" he asked, his voice low. I didn't like his voice like that. He scared the hell outta me!

"No! I mean, yes! I just… I mean… I didn't wanna…"

"You didn't wanna what, you little shit?" Suddenly I didn't care about proving myself worthy. That last word hurt more than anything. With both Dally and Chrissi cussing at me… it was too much. I fought back the tears threatening to spill outta my eyes.

"Dally! What the hell was that for?" Johnny asked, grabbing Dally by the arm. Everything was quiet. All the more reason that I couldn't start crying. Not when everything was dead silent. Not when everyone would notice.

"Now what are you doin'? Why are you fightin' for her? She's just a little wimp, that's all. She's just a little bag of _shit_," Dally said. I wanted to cry so bad. But I didn't. I didn't have time to anyway. Because right after Dally said this, Johnny shoved Dally. Not anything like shoving, actually. Just a little almost pat on the arm. But I could tell that this was a big gesture, all the same.

**Review? Please? I'll update sooner if you do! :D**

***Just a little author's note* I changed the ending of this chapter. It used to be where Johnny punched Dally, but a reviewer (Bless her!) femaletwo-bit informed me that Johnny was a little bit OOC. I totally just had like a light bulb that went off in my head xD Johnny would never punch anyone, especially not Dally, the one guy he really looked up to. So now Johnny's shoved Dally. Same meaning, really, except Johnny is actually in character this time. I greatly apologize- I guess I got a little too carried away when I was writing this chapter- you know how it is! ;) But thank you all for reviewing and faving my story, it makes my day! :D And continue to call me out if you think a character is OOC, okay? Thanks a million! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey ya'll! :D Sorry for the delay (ugh I feel like I'm constantly saying that to you guys!) but I'm pretty busy with life and I had a slight writer's block as well :/ Never fun, but thankfully I got over it! I literally just finished writing this chapter, it all kinda rushed upon me like a wave! So, enjoy! Oh, and to all my loyal readers, please note that Johnny has no longer punched Dally- that's incredible OOC (femaletwo-bit pointed it out to me, God bless her!) and I'm not gonna turn into that kind of writer! So yeah, he just (gently- this is Johnny we're talking about here!) shoved Dally. Oh, and if you haven't noticed already, I'm gonna start to use a little bit worse of language just for the characters to be more in-character, but it's rated T for a reason :) And please review, every single one of them makes my day even if I don't respond to them! Thank you all so very much! Now... on with the story! :D**

Not So Different Chapter 11

Dally sat there, stunned for a moment. Johnny, the one who I'd always thought was so quiet and kind, just hit him. This was huge. No, it wasn't an incredibly powerful hit at all… Actually, it was more like a small pat. But I could still tell that Johnny had really meant to hurt Dally, the guy who he supposedly looked up to. Now, I didn't know Johnny too well right then, but I'm pretty sure that he'd never done this before and that maybe he'd just done it for me. Maybe.

"What the hell…" Dally trailed off at the end of his sentence. Johnny looked up at him with his dark eyes and I could just tell that he tried his best not to regret his decision.

"I'm sorry Dal, I really am, but you just can't keep treatin' nice gals like this," Johnny said. It was a simple statement, but it still affected Dally. He almost looked… touched. Dallas Winston- touched. Well, that's just one of the many things that Johnny could accomplish.

"There ain't any reason for you to hurt Mariela. She's real tuff," Johnny added. I smiled a little right at him and the tears stopped threatening to flow. He might have just saved me right there with that little, quiet comment of his. It was amazing just how much a few words could affect things.

Johnny smiled just a little back at me before saying, "Me and Pony can take her home, you just stay here, Dally." He grabbed my hand and led me out the door with Ponyboy following right behind him. The entire gang was still silent, staring at us as we left them.

"Johnny, I'm real sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble," I said to Johnny who's face was getting a little pink in the cheeks. Was he blushing because he was with me or because he just hurt Dally and was embarrassed? I couldn't tell.

"Naw, you're alright. Dally was just bein' an ass." Even though Johnny was a greaser, his use of language still shocked me.

"Mariela, I tried to warn you! I tried! You know Dallas ain't anythin' but trouble. That's just the way he is, Mare, and you gotta get used to it if-" But Ponyboy didn't have time to finish his sentence because Dallas Winston ran up behind us. I stopped dead in my tracks, scared to hell that he was gonna hit me or cuss at me again. But he didn't. Nope, he just stopped and looked at the three of us for a minute or two. Then he said, "Look, I'm sorry Mariela. You dig okay." I sat there, eyes wide, not knowing what to say or do. I looked over at Ponyboy who looked back at me with the same expression on his face. I was downright dumbfounded. Then I looked over at Johnny who gave me an encouraging little wink.

I smiled a little before saying, "It's alright Dally."

"And, uh, Mariela?" Dally asked like he was in trouble or something. He scratched the back of his head with his head and looked kinda uncomfortable.

"Yeah Dallas?" Dally cringed when I called him that, but he didn't make a comment back.

"So, where's this broad you wanted to introduce me to?"

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know her name!"

…

"No way!" Chrissi yelled from across the house. "You think you can just go around and set me up with guys? I'm not a slut, Mariela!"

"I didn't say you were at all! Just, come on! Dally's just like you! You'd be perfect for him! Trust me on this one!" I yelled back. I wanted these two together real bad.

Little did Chrissi know that Dally was actually waiting just outside our back door. Yeah, we'd (Ponyboy, Johnny, Dally, and me) planned for what was going to happen. We couldn't just force Chrissi on a date with a stranger, that I knew. And even if we managed to get her to go by some miracle, she'd come home ten minutes later in a mass of chaos and cussing. Nope, that wasn't gonna happen again…

So we decided that I needed Chrissi's approval before she actually went out with Dally. Which made a whole lot of sense, if you think about it. I mean, would you really wanna get an eye patch just 'cause you didn't use your head? Nope, I didn't think so!

"I ain't goin', Mare, and that's final!" Chrissi yelled again. But I was real determined.

"Yes you are! Look Chrissi, I let a whole lot of things go when it comes to you, and I mean a whole lot. But this time… I just can't let this opportunity slip away from ya! You and Dally would get along great and I just know it would be perfect! Please?" I begged, feeling way too desperate for her to go on a date with some guy I hardly even knew.

"I already said no!" Chrissi yelled, just as someone got a little too impatient and burst through the front door of our house.

"What the hell is takin' so damn lon-" Dally yelled, infuriated. But he stopped as he laid his eyes on Chrissi. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life, I swear. The two of them just kinda stared at each other for a while. You could tell that they both liked each other already, even though this was the first time either of them had actually seen the other.

After what seemed like forever, Chrissi said, "Mariela, why don't you just beat it so we can be alone?" Dally's eyes widened as she said this and he smiled at her.

"So Mariela was right, then? We _are _alike!" And then I had to leave them alone, because what else was I gonna do?

After I reached the top step, though, I heard the door slam. They were off.

This was definitely gonna be interesting, to say the least.

…

"Where'd Chrissi run off to?" King asked me and Ray as he stumbled into the kitchen. Me and Ray rolled our eyes at him.

"She's out with Dallas Winston," I said casually.

"Who the hell is he?" King asked. He couldn't even stand straight, he was so drunk.

"Well, he's… no one, King," I said, not even trying to explain things to him when he was like that. Ray laughed and added, "He's just Chrissi's future husband, you'd better get to know him real soon…" I punched Ray lightly on the arm and we had a good laugh together. King just looked at us and said a few words I don't need to repeat.

As King walked right back out our door, Jack strolled in. "What's wrong with King?" he asked.

"Well, he's drunk," Ray said like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. Which, in a way, it kinda was.

"No way dumb ass, I had no idea!" Jack said with a fake dramatic gasp. Me and Ray got a real good laugh outta that too. "But really, what's with him? And where's Chrissi? I haven't seen her in a while… longer than usual."

"He's just confused 'cause he don't know who Dallas Winston is. And Chrissi's _with _Dallas Winston," I said back with a giggle. Jack looked confused.

"… So who is Dallas Winston? Now I don't blame King for bein' confused!" Again, me and Ray laughed for a little. Sometimes, it was like when we were together, everything was a joke.

"He's Chrissi's husband, of course!" Ray and I said in unison, followed by another round of chuckles. Jack's eyes widened and he gripped the table with his hands.

"Chrissi's… married?" he asked, almost in a panic. Ray and me looked at each other and this time just smiled.

"Yep, she's off on her honeymoon as we speak!" I said.

"In… Paris!" Ray added. Now Jack knew we were joking. He rolled his eyes at us and picked me up and spun me around.

"Don't…! Put …me down! Ah!" I said through more giggles.

"So where is Chrissi actually?" he asked.

We finally gave him a real answer. "She's on a date with Dallas Winston, another greaser. He's just like her, and that ain't even exageratin'!" I said.

"Hmmm… just like Chrissi? I'm not so sure that's a real good thing…" Jack commented.

"Whaddya mean, Jack?" I asked. If Chrissi was with someone just like her, shouldn't they get along just fine? Well, maybe if it was anyone but Chrissi. Anyone but rude, cunning, cheating, unfeeling, Chrissi…

"I mean, Chrissi ain't exactly a doll herself, we all know that," Jack said, looking behind him just to see if Chrissi was somehow hiding and just waiting to punish him. "So if she's with a guy just like her, then she could easily be being drawn into some sorta game or trick or plan or somethin'. I just don't think it's a real great idea." Jack said. It actually did sound like he was telling the truth and really knew what he was talking about.

"But…" I was at a loss for words. I mean, this was supposed to be my expert plan. Chrissi and Dally would meet, find out that they're real similar, and then fall in love. Easy as that! But I guess life don't always work that way. Maybe I was being too hasty and just imagining things when I'd tried to plan things out. Maybe I didn't really think this through at all and I didn't know Dallas and behind all that toughness there was really a great guy that deserved a gal much better than Chrissi. Maybe Ponyboy was right, maybe this was all a big mistake.

"Woah, you alright?" Ray asked with a shake on my shoulder. Breaking out of my unpleasant reverie, I nodded.

"But what if I'm wrong? What if Chrissi really ain't like Dally at all? What if he's gonna hurt her?" I questioned, suddenly scared.

"Then Chrissi'll finally get what she's got comin'. She's given us shit, then shit's what she gets back!" Jack responded confidently. Ray and I both laughed. Again.

"You're right, Jack. Whatever happens, happens. I'm sure they'll be fine! What could go wrong?" I asked.

"Exactly! Things'll all be alright, Mare, you just wait and see!" Jack replied happily. It was just like him to pick me up when I was feeling down. I was real grateful to have a friend like him.


End file.
